Diffusive geodesics wandering in networks of rigid chains.

Marquis, Ulysse · Phys Rev E · 2025

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We introduce an ensemble of spatial networks built from the junctions of hindered-rotation chains, incorporating directional correlations between bonds, an aspect ignored in the standard network modeling paradigm. The emergent random networks support geodesics with a wandering exponent ξ=1/2, and a travel-time fluctuation exponent χ=0, consistent with the KPZ relation, yet violating the bound χ≥1/8 predicted in the Poissonian framework. Transverse deviations follow the Kolmogorov distribution, indicating similarities between Brownian bridge excursions and geodesics in a random medium with correlated edges orientations. These results reveal a new universality class of Euclidean first-passage percolation, where local orientational memory reshapes transport properties and challenges existing bounds for random spatial networks.